Investigation: Missile that shot down Malaysia Flight 17 came from Russia

Dutch investigators released this animation illustrating what happened in the final moments of doomed flight MH17 based on the Safety Board's investigation findings, which were published on October 13, 2015.
VPC

A man looks at debris from Malaysia Airlines flight MH 17 which landed in a field of sunflowers on July 19, 2014 in Rassipnoye, Ukraine.(Photo: Brendan Hoffman, Getty Images)

A Dutch-led criminal investigation into the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 released Wednesday found evidence the airliner was struck by a Russian-made Buk missile that was moved into eastern Ukraine from Russia.

The report confirmed multiple findings in the past of the cause of the crash of the Boeing 777, en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, killing all 298 people aboard.

Wilbert Paulissen, head of the Dutch Central Crime Investigation Department, said communications intercepts showed pro-Russian separatists had called for the missile to be deployed, and reported its arrival in rebel-held parts of eastern Ukraine.

CLOSE

The missile which brought down Flight MH17 two years ago over eastern Ukraine was transported into the area from Russia, a Dutch-led investigation has found.
Video provided by AFP
Newslook

“It may be concluded MH17 was shot down by a 9M38 missile launched by a Buk, brought in from the territory of the Russian Federation, and that after launch was subsequently returned to the Russian Federation," Paulissen said at a news conference, announcing the results of the two-year investigation.

The Russian military insisted Wednesday that no air defense missile systems have ever been sent from Russia to Ukraine. The Defense Ministry spokesman, Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, claimed the investigation's conclusions were based on information from the internet and Ukrainian special services, the Associated Press reported.

In Washington, State Department spokesman John Kirby said the latest findings are "another step toward bringing to justice those responsible for this outrageous attack."

Eliot Higgins, founder of the open-source research group Bellingcat, whose early reports pointing at Russian involvement were verified by the Dutch report, said Russia has consistently issued false information about the crash "from claims about satellite imagery to claims about the movements of Buk missile launchers."

Russia has repeatedly denied allegations that pro-Moscow rebels in eastern Ukraine were responsible for downing the plane. Russia also has denied supporting the separatists with arms and money, despite evidence to the contrary from foreign governments and news media.

Prosecutors from the Joint Investigation Team — made up of investigators from Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Ukraine — told the relatives of those killed that they would investigate about 100 people over the incident, the BBC reported.

Robby Oehler, whose niece died in the crash, told the broadcaster: "They told us how the Buk was transported [and] how they came to that evidence from phone taps, photo, film material, video."

A separate investigation by the Dutch Safety Board concluded in October 2015 that the plane was hit by a Russian-made Buk missile.

Eduard Basurin, from the Donetsk People's Republic rebel group, told the Interfax news agency: "We never had such air defense systems, nor the people who could operate them. Therefore we could not have shot down the Boeing."

Armed separatists in military attire block passage of Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe investigators heading to the wreckage site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.
Evert-Jan Daniels, European Pressphoto Agency

Sympathizers hug in front of a flower tribute at the entrance to the Korporaal van Oudheusdenkazerne army barracks in Hilversum, Netherlands, on July 24. Victims of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crash in the Ukraine will be identified at the facility.
Jerry Lampen, epa

The convoy of funeral hearses carrying the remains of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crash victims heads July 24 from the airbase in Eindhoven to Hilversum, Netherlands, where they will be identified.
Remko De Waal, EPA

People attend a silent march of remembrance in Amsterdam on July 23. The first bodies of passengers and crew killed on Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 arrived in the Netherlands from the Ukraine. July 23 was an official day of mourning in the Netherlands.
Phil Nijhuis, AP

Hearses carry coffins containing unidentified bodies from the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 on July 23, in Eindhoven, Netherlands. The flight was traveling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it crashed in eastern Ukraine killing all 298 passengers.
Peter Macdiarmid, Getty Images

Mourners watch from a bridge as a convoy of hearses carrying some victims of the downed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, drive from Eindhoven Airbase to Hilversum, Netherlands.
Jerry Lampen, AFP/Getty Images

Dutch military men carry a coffin containing the body of a victim of downed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, during a ceremony at Eindhoven Airbase upon their arrival in Netherlands.
John Thys, AFP/Getty Images

A woman mourns victims of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport on July 23. The Dutch government has declared a day of national mourning as two planes arrive, carrying victims from the flight that crashed in Ukraine.
Robin Van Lonkhuijsen, AFP/Getty Images

Malaysian experts check debris at the Malaysia Airlines crash site on July 22 near Hrabove, Ukraine. The aircraft was traveling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was shot down by a missile on July 17, killing all 298 people on board.
Robert Ghement, epa

A Malaysian investigator photographs debris at the scene of the Malaysia Airlines jet crash near Hrabove, Ukraine. The Boeing 777 aircraft with 298 people onboard was shot down by a missile July 17.
Vadim Ghirda, AP

Pro-Russian rebels, right, followed by members of the OSCE mission, walk by plane wreckage as they arrive for a media briefing at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, near the village of Hrabove, in eastern Ukraine, on July 22.
Vadim Ghirda, AP

Deputy head of a European observer mission to Ukraine Alexander Hug, center right, stands outside a refrigerated train as members of Netherlands' National Forensic Investigations Team inspect the bodies of victims from the Malaysia Airlines crash in Torez, eastern Ukraine.
Vadim Ghirda, AP

Kees Klompenhouwer, the Dutch ambassador to Ukraine, left, and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko lay flowers to commemorate the victims of the crash at the Dutch Embassy in Kiev.
Sergey Dolzhenko, European Pressphoto Agency

Luggage and personal belongings from Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 lie in a field on July 20 near Grabovo, Ukraine. The airliner was traveling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it crashed, killing all 298 on board, including 80 children.
Rob Stothard, Getty Images

A pro-Russia soldier holds up a toy he found in the debris at the Malaysia Airlines crash. Emergency workers, police officers and off-duty coal miners searched the scene of the crash for the bodies of 298 people who died in the July 17 crash.
Dmitry Lovetsky, AP

Alexander Hug, center, deputy chief monitor of the Organization for Cooperation and Security in Europe's special monitoring mission to Ukraine, visits the site of the airliner crash near Shaktarsk.
Dominique Faget, AFP/Getty Images

Interpreters work as Ukrainian Ambassador to the United Nations Yuriy Sergeyev speaks at a Security Council meeting at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
Andrew Gombert, European Pressphoto Agency

Pro-Russia militants stand next to wreckage from Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 near Donetsk. The Boeing 777 airliner with 298 people on board was possibly shot down by a missile on July 17 near the Russia-Ukraine border.
Anastasia Vlasova, European Pressphoto Agency

A man covers a body with a plastic sheet near the Malaysia Airlines crash site near Rozsypne village, Ukraine. Rescue workers, police officers and off-duty coal miners are searching for victims in an area in eastern Ukraine where the Malaysian plane was shot down on July 17, killing all 298 passengers.
Dmitry Lovetsky, AP

People inspect the debris after a Malaysia Airlines passenger jet with 295 people on board crashed near Grabovo. Ukrainian military officials say the Boeing 777 passenger plane carrying 295 people was shot down by a missile as it flew over rebel-held eastern Ukraine.
Dmitry Lovetsky, AP

Relatives of passengers aboard the shot down Malaysian airliner walk past members of the press as they arrive at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam. The flight was carrying 295 people from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
Phil Nijhuis, AP

People inspect the crash site of a passenger plane near the village of Grabovo. Both the government and the pro-Russia separatists fighting in the region denied any responsibility for downing the plane.
Dmitry Lovetsky, AP

In advance of the report's release, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia wanted "an impartial and full investigation of that tragedy."

"No conclusions can be made without taking into consideration the latest information that was published by our military — namely the primary radar data that recorded all aircraft or objects that could be launched or be in the air on the territory controlled by militia at that time," he told reporters, according to the Tass news agency.

He added that "the data are unambiguous and there is no missile (that allegedly downed the jet) there. If there had been a missile, then it could have been launched from other territory. In this case, I do not say which territory — this is a matter of experts."